Isiah Thomas says Trae Young has gone from a stat machine to a winner: "The numbers don't tell the whole truth"
The Atlanta Hawks advanced to the semifinals of the 2024 In-Season Tournament by defeating the New York Knicks on Wednesday night. They are now the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference after winning seven of their last eight games.
Trae Young has gotten much of the credit for Atlanta's resurgence. But while many praise "Ice Trae," some are concerned with his poor shooting performance so far this season.
Not Isiah Thomas, though. According to the Detroit Pistons legend, Young's struggles have something to do with his transformation as a player.
"Trae Young has gone from a stat machine to a winner. And if we look at those numbers and we say, 'Okay, 38 percent from the field,' but then when you look at the other side, you say he's averaging 12 assists per game," Isiah said.
Trae is playing winning basketball
25 games into the 2024-25 campaign, Trae is averaging the lowest number of points (21.0) since his rookie season. He is also shooting career lows from the field (38.4 percent) and from long range (30.8 percent).
However, "Ice Trae" is currently leading the league in assists at 12.2 dimes per contest. With Young taking fewer shots and passing the ball more, the Hawks have seven other players averaging in double digits. This distribution of wealth has led to sustained winning since late last month.
"So what that tells me is that he's sharing the basketball, getting his teammates better shots, and he's taking the more difficult shots now, which consequently lowers his field goal percentage," added Zeke. "Now his field goal percentage has dropped, but their winning percentage has gone up. So the numbers don't tell the whole truth about what he's doing because now he's playing winning basketball as opposed to statistical basketball."
Make or break year for Young?
At the start of the season, Chandler Parsons talked about this being the make-or-break year for Young, who has been in Atlanta since they traded Luka Doncic for him during the 2018 NBA Draft. Even though the University of Oklahoma product took the team to the Conference Finals in 2021, they haven't been able to make it past the first round of the playoffs since.
"It's honestly been his team since the day he got there. This has been (a) Trae Young show. They've believed in him. They've paid him… listened to him. It's not about Trae Young getting his numbers numbers this campaign, it's about him getting everybody else involved," Chandler said. "Trae Young has gone through a lot of players, coaches, but I do think this year is huge for him to kinda solidify that and win games."
Young has done that this season, although it's still too early to say if the Hawks have turned a page. However, advancing to Las Vegas is already a big accomplishment, and winning the second In-Season Tournament would be a major step forward.
